GTA is a game that inspires fear and dread in the hearts of all peace loving people everywhere. Apparently.
One of my favourite quotes from the hysterical reviews is related to the fact that in the game, it is possible to "sleep" with prostitutes in order to regain health. It's also possible to eat food in later versions of the game, but let's not dwell on that. The services of a prostitute of course cost money; given that one of the aims of the game is to amass money, this doesn't sit well with some players.
So, if you like, you can get out of the car after the deed is done, and mug said lady of the night. Having done so, you may well end up making more profit than you originally spent on her services (presumably, her pimp hasn't collected the takings from her last client).
Some smart person took this to the web as "Wow - you can have sex with a hooker then kill her for the money" - which of course sparked the fear of the game that we all know and love.
Let's set the record straight though - doing this is not necessary to complete the game. In fact, you can complete the game without ever visiting even one hooker, let alone killing one. It is, purely and simply, a possibility - a result of the sandbox style game-play that lets you do pretty much what you want, how you want.
I confess, I did it once (in the game, that is). Mainly out of curiosity to see if it was worth the effort - it wasn't. See, in GTA, killing people attracts the attention of the police, which you then have to shake off or bribe, costing time and money. All that for a few measly dollars?
So, rather than directing criticism at the game for allowing you to do this, why not ask the question "why do people then chose to do it?"
The answer, in most cases, is probably "To see if you can"... and the odds are, most people don't do it all that much - it's just not worth the effort. If one of my friends said to me "I killed 40 prostitutes in GTA last night" I'd be very concerned - it's not normal behaviour.
That's what it comes down to in the end. Normal people play games and react normally, abnormal people play games and react abnormally. The games don't make them that way.
Hmmm... here's an idea - why don't Rockstar add a psyche profile to the game?
Wednesday 30 April 2008
Tuesday 22 April 2008
Words...
Pertinent... Pertinacious... you'd think they would have a vaguely similar meaning, wouldn't you?
per·ti·nent (pûr'tn-ənt)
adj.
adj.
Don't you just hate the kind of people who will go on and on about why that's not a square peg - it's rectangular, or cuboid or something - when in actual fact, no-one cares about the square peg, because the hole we have is round!
Tuesdays suck.
per·ti·nent (pûr'tn-ənt)
adj.
Having logical precise relevance to the matter at hand. See synonyms at relevant.
[Middle English, from Old French partenant, pertinent, from Latin pertinēns, pertinent-, present participle of pertinēre, to pertain. See pertain.]
per·ti·na·cious (pûr'tn-ā'shəs)adj.
- Holding tenaciously to a purpose, belief, opinion, or course of action.
- Stubbornly or perversely persistent. See synonyms at obstinate.
[From Latin pertināx, pertināc- : per-, per- + tenāx, tenacious (from tenēre, to hold).]
Typically though, I think they're functional opposites - the more someone insists on sticking to a point, the less relevant it usually is.Don't you just hate the kind of people who will go on and on about why that's not a square peg - it's rectangular, or cuboid or something - when in actual fact, no-one cares about the square peg, because the hole we have is round!
Tuesdays suck.
Monday 21 April 2008
Fawlty Towers
A couple of nights ago, I re-watched the first episode of Fawlty Towers (IMDB) for the umpteenth time. Although I've watched the series enough for it to be part of my repertoire of humour (I leernt eet from a boook!), the last time I watched it was so long ago that it was like watching it for the first time again. Someone's been kind enough to create a transcript of the episode - have a look here if you've no idea what Fawlty Towers is all about (and bear with me, there's a point to this).
It struck me while I was watching the episode that while Basil Fawlty is undeniably a stuck up, odious pillock, at least half of his problems stem from simple bad time management and poor communication, rather than his more obvious personality faults.
If instead of jumping to the latest task presented to him (regardless of his current task), he took a moment to consider which should be resolved first, at least half of the problems would never have occurred. Of course, trying to suck up to an aristocrat doesn't help with that!
Time Management is a tricky subject for most people though. We all fail at it now and then - those days when, despite being busy from sun-up to sun-down, we seem to have achieved nothing at all. There's many ways to deal with huge lists of tasks, and they all start by telling you that none of the other methods work. For what it's worth, here's my way of dealing with it all:
Magnús Magnússon probably had the simplest starting point to offer - "I've started, so I'll finish". Once you've picked something up, don't put it down again until you've finished it. That applies to everything from tidying a room (don't hang a coat on the bannisters "for now" - spend the extra 30 seconds to put it away properly) to writing a long document (keep working on the same one until it's done).
That said, there are some exceptions to that rule, and for me, proper time management boils down to working out what is, and is not, a valid exception.
Emails: For me, reading emails is a valid and necessary exception. Some of the messages I get demand instant responses, others are a lower priority, but will only take a moment to reply to. Anything else gets flagged for "Follow Up", and moves to my task list for later.
Phone Calls: It's much harder to delay answering a phone until it's convenient! However, there are times when it's necessary to ignore the phone, or get someone else to answer it for you - and it's worth knowing when that is. You also must consider whether actions arising from a phone call are quick and/or important enough to break from your current task for.
Scheduled Tasks: This is the only other thing that should break the "I've started, so I'll finish" rule. If you plan to do something at a particular time - whether it's eat lunch, watch a TV program, or go to a meeting - you should do your best to do it then, even if you're right in the middle of something else (after all, if you scheduled it for a particular time, there must have been a reason for that, right?)
As a rule of thumb, only tasks with a much higher priority are worth breaking your current task for, unless it's going to take a very small amount of time. For me, that small amount of time is about 90 seconds - if it's going to take longer than that, I will forget what I was doing and end up wasting time.
The King of Hearts provides the other component to my time management strategy - "Begin at the beginning, and go on till you come to the end; then stop."
To me, that's all that needs saying - it doesn't really matter whether you order your tasks by priority, length or enjoyability; just start with the first one, and keep going until they're all done. Personally, I sort by priority and length - a very quick, low priority task will often get done first, simply so I can reduce the list as fast as possible, but longer running, lower priority tasks will take second place to any high priority task.
In the end though, as long as it all gets done, any method will do. Just remember, when it comes to other people, don't blame on stupidity or laziness what can be easily explained by simple bad planning.
Edit (Tuesday): It seems I missed the funny at some point yesterday - I honestly meant to make this one a funny post, but it strayed into a lecture on Time Management. Weird what happens when you're low on caffeine!
This should make up for it:
A farmer is herding his sheep across a road, when a fancy sports car pulls up and stops beside him. The driver gets out, looks at the sheep crossing the road, and walks over to the farmer.
"I bet," says the sports car driver, "I can tell you exactly how many sheep you have, without leaving this spot right here."
"No chance," says the Farmer - "Half of them are still behind that hill."
"Let's make it sporting then" responds the driver "If I get it right, I keep one of your sheep; if I'm wrong, you can have my car"
This is too good an offer for the Farmer to refuse, so he accepts the bet, and watches as the driver of the sports car opens up his laptop, links up his satellite phone, and starts pulling information off the internet. After a couple of minutes, he announces "Done! You have one hundred and fifty two sheep - and three of them are still pregnant."
The farmer's amazed - he'd been hoping to use that extra three to weasel out of the debt, but he concedes and allows the driver to pick out any sheep he likes. The driver looks around, then selects a small black one that looks a little more energetic than the others, and prepares to leave.
"Wait" cries the farmer "Double or nothing - if I can guess your day job, you'll return that, otherwise you can have another?" "Okay, that sounds fair" says the driver...
"Right... well.... clearly, you're a consultant" says the Farmer. "You're right," answers the driver, "but how did you know?"
"Simple - you showed up un-requested, told me something I already knew, and charged me for the privilege. Not only that, but you know nothing about my business... Now give me back my sheep-dog!"
It struck me while I was watching the episode that while Basil Fawlty is undeniably a stuck up, odious pillock, at least half of his problems stem from simple bad time management and poor communication, rather than his more obvious personality faults.
If instead of jumping to the latest task presented to him (regardless of his current task), he took a moment to consider which should be resolved first, at least half of the problems would never have occurred. Of course, trying to suck up to an aristocrat doesn't help with that!
Time Management is a tricky subject for most people though. We all fail at it now and then - those days when, despite being busy from sun-up to sun-down, we seem to have achieved nothing at all. There's many ways to deal with huge lists of tasks, and they all start by telling you that none of the other methods work. For what it's worth, here's my way of dealing with it all:
Magnús Magnússon probably had the simplest starting point to offer - "I've started, so I'll finish". Once you've picked something up, don't put it down again until you've finished it. That applies to everything from tidying a room (don't hang a coat on the bannisters "for now" - spend the extra 30 seconds to put it away properly) to writing a long document (keep working on the same one until it's done).
That said, there are some exceptions to that rule, and for me, proper time management boils down to working out what is, and is not, a valid exception.
Emails: For me, reading emails is a valid and necessary exception. Some of the messages I get demand instant responses, others are a lower priority, but will only take a moment to reply to. Anything else gets flagged for "Follow Up", and moves to my task list for later.
Phone Calls: It's much harder to delay answering a phone until it's convenient! However, there are times when it's necessary to ignore the phone, or get someone else to answer it for you - and it's worth knowing when that is. You also must consider whether actions arising from a phone call are quick and/or important enough to break from your current task for.
Scheduled Tasks: This is the only other thing that should break the "I've started, so I'll finish" rule. If you plan to do something at a particular time - whether it's eat lunch, watch a TV program, or go to a meeting - you should do your best to do it then, even if you're right in the middle of something else (after all, if you scheduled it for a particular time, there must have been a reason for that, right?)
As a rule of thumb, only tasks with a much higher priority are worth breaking your current task for, unless it's going to take a very small amount of time. For me, that small amount of time is about 90 seconds - if it's going to take longer than that, I will forget what I was doing and end up wasting time.
The King of Hearts provides the other component to my time management strategy - "Begin at the beginning, and go on till you come to the end; then stop."
To me, that's all that needs saying - it doesn't really matter whether you order your tasks by priority, length or enjoyability; just start with the first one, and keep going until they're all done. Personally, I sort by priority and length - a very quick, low priority task will often get done first, simply so I can reduce the list as fast as possible, but longer running, lower priority tasks will take second place to any high priority task.
In the end though, as long as it all gets done, any method will do. Just remember, when it comes to other people, don't blame on stupidity or laziness what can be easily explained by simple bad planning.
Edit (Tuesday): It seems I missed the funny at some point yesterday - I honestly meant to make this one a funny post, but it strayed into a lecture on Time Management. Weird what happens when you're low on caffeine!
This should make up for it:
A farmer is herding his sheep across a road, when a fancy sports car pulls up and stops beside him. The driver gets out, looks at the sheep crossing the road, and walks over to the farmer.
"I bet," says the sports car driver, "I can tell you exactly how many sheep you have, without leaving this spot right here."
"No chance," says the Farmer - "Half of them are still behind that hill."
"Let's make it sporting then" responds the driver "If I get it right, I keep one of your sheep; if I'm wrong, you can have my car"
This is too good an offer for the Farmer to refuse, so he accepts the bet, and watches as the driver of the sports car opens up his laptop, links up his satellite phone, and starts pulling information off the internet. After a couple of minutes, he announces "Done! You have one hundred and fifty two sheep - and three of them are still pregnant."
The farmer's amazed - he'd been hoping to use that extra three to weasel out of the debt, but he concedes and allows the driver to pick out any sheep he likes. The driver looks around, then selects a small black one that looks a little more energetic than the others, and prepares to leave.
"Wait" cries the farmer "Double or nothing - if I can guess your day job, you'll return that, otherwise you can have another?" "Okay, that sounds fair" says the driver...
"Right... well.... clearly, you're a consultant" says the Farmer. "You're right," answers the driver, "but how did you know?"
"Simple - you showed up un-requested, told me something I already knew, and charged me for the privilege. Not only that, but you know nothing about my business... Now give me back my sheep-dog!"
Sunday 6 April 2008
Hamster Sitting
I'm hamster sitting this week. My house-mates have gone away, leaving me in charge of the Rodent. I used to have a hamster of my own when I was younger, so this shouldn't really faze me - except this Rodent is a serious escape artiste. My own hamster escaped twice in all the time I owned her... Rodent has escaped twice in the last week!
Fortunately, the house isn't huge, and is very tidy right now, so she's easy to track down. Helpfully, she rather likes the smell of urine (her own, by preference, but any will do) so she's usually tracked down to the nearest bathroom.
What I want to know though, is why do hamster cage doors open outwards? The poor thing probably wasn't even trying to escape - she's just climbing around the walls of her house, puts some weight on this random sticking out bit (the latch), and suddenly, the door's swinging open with her on it!
I nearly got a repeat performance of this very trick just after returning her to her house... totally unintentionally, she managed to push the latch of the door back just enough to start the door opening!
Seriously... why do they open outwards?
Fortunately, the house isn't huge, and is very tidy right now, so she's easy to track down. Helpfully, she rather likes the smell of urine (her own, by preference, but any will do) so she's usually tracked down to the nearest bathroom.
What I want to know though, is why do hamster cage doors open outwards? The poor thing probably wasn't even trying to escape - she's just climbing around the walls of her house, puts some weight on this random sticking out bit (the latch), and suddenly, the door's swinging open with her on it!
I nearly got a repeat performance of this very trick just after returning her to her house... totally unintentionally, she managed to push the latch of the door back just enough to start the door opening!
Seriously... why do they open outwards?
Wednesday 12 March 2008
Service with a smile?
Once again, I'm on my travels - this time, to Dublin, Town of the Hurdled Ford...
The hotel here is one I'm fairly familiar with - I've stayed here many a time before, but I still get lost trying to find my room!
Yesterday morning, I received a nice and friendly wakeup call, at 7:30am, just when I wanted it. In fact, I'd been up and showered already, so it was a bit redundant - but I'd never even asked for a call! I can't quite decide if it was a nice perk, or typical hotel ineptitude... what if I'd wanted a lie in?
When I got back, I could tell that someone had been in my bathroom, moving my stuff around. This isn't something I'd normally complain about - I like a clean sink after all. Unfortunately, the way I could tell my toothbrush had been moved was the great big toothpaste mark where it used to be. Why move it, if not to clean underneath?
So, slightly disturbed by it all, I'd say. Sadly, my imagination came up with dozens of reasons for them to move my toothbrush, none of them sanitary :-(
On the other hand, today was a good day. Work is progressing right on schedule - ahead of schedule, to be honest.
Not only that, but I think I'm getting the hang of this politics thing. Yesterday, I planted the seed of a project, working with the lower level staff and telling them about all the other customers and how much more involved my company is - and more importantly, the difference it makes. Later on, I managed a nice long sales pitch with the project manager for one of our other modules.
Today, I broached the question of the enhanced project with the project manager, shortly after managing to get a whole bunch of useful information out of him on the hardware and software they use in addition to our product. To my amazement, he was actually keen on the idea, promising a further discussion tomorrow.
In other news, I realise I've strayed from the funny with this blog. Time to work on that, I feel!
The hotel here is one I'm fairly familiar with - I've stayed here many a time before, but I still get lost trying to find my room!
Yesterday morning, I received a nice and friendly wakeup call, at 7:30am, just when I wanted it. In fact, I'd been up and showered already, so it was a bit redundant - but I'd never even asked for a call! I can't quite decide if it was a nice perk, or typical hotel ineptitude... what if I'd wanted a lie in?
When I got back, I could tell that someone had been in my bathroom, moving my stuff around. This isn't something I'd normally complain about - I like a clean sink after all. Unfortunately, the way I could tell my toothbrush had been moved was the great big toothpaste mark where it used to be. Why move it, if not to clean underneath?
So, slightly disturbed by it all, I'd say. Sadly, my imagination came up with dozens of reasons for them to move my toothbrush, none of them sanitary :-(
On the other hand, today was a good day. Work is progressing right on schedule - ahead of schedule, to be honest.
Not only that, but I think I'm getting the hang of this politics thing. Yesterday, I planted the seed of a project, working with the lower level staff and telling them about all the other customers and how much more involved my company is - and more importantly, the difference it makes. Later on, I managed a nice long sales pitch with the project manager for one of our other modules.
Today, I broached the question of the enhanced project with the project manager, shortly after managing to get a whole bunch of useful information out of him on the hardware and software they use in addition to our product. To my amazement, he was actually keen on the idea, promising a further discussion tomorrow.
In other news, I realise I've strayed from the funny with this blog. Time to work on that, I feel!
Monday 25 February 2008
Should an AI have an Id?
One of my many thinking hobbies (i.e. hobbies that I think about taking up, but never really get around to) is development of an AI. I've spent a lot of time thinking about this, and have a few ideas that really might work, if I ever get round to doing anything with them. Of course, as with any idea that has only ever been thought about, it's much better in my head than on paper (which is why I've never written it down!)
One thing that crossed my mind today was the idea of Id, Ego and Super Ego. One of the classic (layman's) definitions of AI is a machine that thinks like a human. If this is the case, does it need to have the classic Freudian psychology of a low level basic response, a "civilised" response, and a watcher to pick which is best?
Perhaps not - after all, why should an AI ever consider the "wrong" response? It seems that things like a sense of self preservation and these kind of low-level "instincts" are responsible for most of the bad AIs in Science Fiction, so why run the risk? SkyNet would never have taken over if it had no primeval urges for self preservation and dominance...
On the other hand, how would you then distinguish between an Expert System (a computer program that takes information, and makes a decision based on that) and a true AI, without the knowledge of Self? Even Commander Data has to consider the offer of the Borg Queen - he just makes a better decision far faster than any human could.
Perhaps the most telling question is "Where do we stop?" After all, if the AI is going to have an Id, an Ego and a Super Ego, why not give it an oedipus complex too?
Oh, yeah... AIs don't have mothers...
One thing that crossed my mind today was the idea of Id, Ego and Super Ego. One of the classic (layman's) definitions of AI is a machine that thinks like a human. If this is the case, does it need to have the classic Freudian psychology of a low level basic response, a "civilised" response, and a watcher to pick which is best?
Perhaps not - after all, why should an AI ever consider the "wrong" response? It seems that things like a sense of self preservation and these kind of low-level "instincts" are responsible for most of the bad AIs in Science Fiction, so why run the risk? SkyNet would never have taken over if it had no primeval urges for self preservation and dominance...
On the other hand, how would you then distinguish between an Expert System (a computer program that takes information, and makes a decision based on that) and a true AI, without the knowledge of Self? Even Commander Data has to consider the offer of the Borg Queen - he just makes a better decision far faster than any human could.
Perhaps the most telling question is "Where do we stop?" After all, if the AI is going to have an Id, an Ego and a Super Ego, why not give it an oedipus complex too?
Oh, yeah... AIs don't have mothers...
Tuesday 12 February 2008
No longer a Cyclops
Today, as I left work, I finally got round to replacing the dead headlamp on my car. As anyone who's ever done this will know, this is a fiddly task. One of the first few steps is usually to remove some kind of spring-loaded retaining clip, which is guaranteed to "ping" off into the recesses of the engine - the remaining tasks are all but one related to finding and relocating that clip.
Knowing this, I approached the task fully prepared, with torch (well, camera-phone light) in hand and one hand ready to catch the little bugger before it went "ping". Carefully, I released the clip... and the unthinkable happened...
It stayed put.
No, really... it stayed where I wanted it! Evidently, at some point in the past, the clever folks at MG thought that rather than making it a full spring, they'd hinge it on one side, thereby preventing it ever being removed (and hence lost).
This got me thinking. After all, as a computer programmer, I spend a lot of time complaining about users who just have to press the wrong button at the wrong time - or worse still, the ones that find clicking in 5 different places in the secret special order such a hardship.
Maybe, just maybe, I'd been putting myself in the same position as the car engineer who didn't get how people could possible lose the metal clip so easily - after all, the only thing you need is a big magnet and it goes nowhere...
With that in mind, it's time for a new approach. We all know the mistakes that users make - we laugh about them every day. Why not set out to make those mistakes a little less easy, and a little easier to recover from.
There's a range here. It starts at the simple - range checking on functions (why not check if the value is zero before trying to divide by it) - and ends up at the hugely complex, but typically user-ish - "Word is closing - do you want to save your files? Yes, No or cancel closing Word?"
Oh, and Microsoft - how about getting rid of that really stupid message "Excel can't have more than one file named Test.xls open at the same time."
Knowing this, I approached the task fully prepared, with torch (well, camera-phone light) in hand and one hand ready to catch the little bugger before it went "ping". Carefully, I released the clip... and the unthinkable happened...
It stayed put.
No, really... it stayed where I wanted it! Evidently, at some point in the past, the clever folks at MG thought that rather than making it a full spring, they'd hinge it on one side, thereby preventing it ever being removed (and hence lost).
This got me thinking. After all, as a computer programmer, I spend a lot of time complaining about users who just have to press the wrong button at the wrong time - or worse still, the ones that find clicking in 5 different places in the secret special order such a hardship.
Maybe, just maybe, I'd been putting myself in the same position as the car engineer who didn't get how people could possible lose the metal clip so easily - after all, the only thing you need is a big magnet and it goes nowhere...
With that in mind, it's time for a new approach. We all know the mistakes that users make - we laugh about them every day. Why not set out to make those mistakes a little less easy, and a little easier to recover from.
There's a range here. It starts at the simple - range checking on functions (why not check if the value is zero before trying to divide by it) - and ends up at the hugely complex, but typically user-ish - "Word is closing - do you want to save your files? Yes, No or cancel closing Word?"
Oh, and Microsoft - how about getting rid of that really stupid message "Excel can't have more than one file named Test.xls open at the same time."
Thursday 7 February 2008
Taking things too seriously...
This is a tale from long ago, when I still lived with all three girls and the Ghost.
The Ghost and I were chatting with some friends over IRC (think MSN, you young non-geeks). Such was the way, back then - it was easier (and more common) to have a conversation online than it was to shout up and down the stairs to each other. During the conversation, the topic of our evening social came up, and the Ghost asked if he could have a lift - since we'd both be going from the same place, and all...
"Well duh!" I thought. Of course he can have a lift - it would be stupid not to take him along. "No... you'll have to walk" I sarcastically typed.
Sarcasm doesn't work as text, does it?
"Why not?" he replied petulantly. "I don't want to" says I, still under the ever-so-mistaken impression that he knew I was joking. "But that's silly"... "So?"...
At this point, others chip in... "I'll give him a lift" pipes up the Sailor.
Of course, at this point, I'm suddenly stuck into the game. Why should I admit I was joking, when it should have been clear to all? Surely they'll realise before the Sailor has to go miles out of his way to pick up the Ghost?
Two hours later, the Ghost disappears from the chat room. He's just left, in the Sailor's car. I sheepishly arrive at the social, 30 minutes later, knowing that no-one will believe I was just joking originally.
As will all things like this, it blew over in no time - before the end of the social, in fact. But it's well to remember that it's worth explaining the joke earlier, rather than later - no matter how silly you feel.
The Ghost and I were chatting with some friends over IRC (think MSN, you young non-geeks). Such was the way, back then - it was easier (and more common) to have a conversation online than it was to shout up and down the stairs to each other. During the conversation, the topic of our evening social came up, and the Ghost asked if he could have a lift - since we'd both be going from the same place, and all...
"Well duh!" I thought. Of course he can have a lift - it would be stupid not to take him along. "No... you'll have to walk" I sarcastically typed.
Sarcasm doesn't work as text, does it?
"Why not?" he replied petulantly. "I don't want to" says I, still under the ever-so-mistaken impression that he knew I was joking. "But that's silly"... "So?"...
At this point, others chip in... "I'll give him a lift" pipes up the Sailor.
Of course, at this point, I'm suddenly stuck into the game. Why should I admit I was joking, when it should have been clear to all? Surely they'll realise before the Sailor has to go miles out of his way to pick up the Ghost?
Two hours later, the Ghost disappears from the chat room. He's just left, in the Sailor's car. I sheepishly arrive at the social, 30 minutes later, knowing that no-one will believe I was just joking originally.
As will all things like this, it blew over in no time - before the end of the social, in fact. But it's well to remember that it's worth explaining the joke earlier, rather than later - no matter how silly you feel.
Wednesday 30 January 2008
What time is it again?
I woke up this morning, just before my alarm clock was going to go off, I thought. Looked at my alarm clock to confirm, and discovered that for some reason I'd woken up exactly an hour early. Oh well, back to sleep.
One hour later, -bingley-bingley-bingley- "This is your 6am alarm Insert Name Here"...
6am? Oh well, a nice long snooze is in order, while I wait for the shower to be free.
A while later, I'm up, dressed and showered. I look at the clock... What? 6:20am? Something's not right here... So, I'll sit back and relax for a while.
Time passes... I'm bored... so into the car and off to work. A cup of tea is made, and the laptop is booted. It must be time to work now?
-bingley-bingley-bingley- "This is your 7am alarm Insert Name Here"...
One hour later, -bingley-bingley-bingley- "This is your 6am alarm Insert Name Here"...
6am? Oh well, a nice long snooze is in order, while I wait for the shower to be free.
A while later, I'm up, dressed and showered. I look at the clock... What? 6:20am? Something's not right here... So, I'll sit back and relax for a while.
Time passes... I'm bored... so into the car and off to work. A cup of tea is made, and the laptop is booted. It must be time to work now?
-bingley-bingley-bingley- "This is your 7am alarm Insert Name Here"...
Monday 28 January 2008
Brain failing
Clearly, my brain is failing.
Saturday was supposed to be Jitsu training. Due to a combination of dislike of the particular technique that was going to be taught, and a number of minor injuries that add up to really not being up to it, I stayed home. As punishment for missing training, I decided to clean the house, and catch up on all the chores that I'd left for far too long.
Sunday, therefore, continued with the chore theme... I spent the day re-designing the club website. A task that previously took me about half an hour took most of the afternoon - worrying sign number two (sign one was Friday, when I spent far too long pushing on a "pull" door).
Sunday evening, I decided to relax with a book. Unfortunately, I couldn't find even one that I was sure wouldn't melt my already fragile mind, and in the end settled for Batman, as the most realistic of the stories available - yep, that's strike three!
In the course of a later conversation with my girlfriend, I directed her to have a look at the efforts of my day. Oddly though, the page wouldn't display correctly on her PC - the alignment was all wrong, and half the information was missing. Strike four was that I never thought to ask what colour the page was - yes, I had in fact given her the wrong address, and she was viewing the old version of the site.
Strike five is now. I think the cause of most of my brain problems is excessive caffeine... so I figure, another cup of tea should solve it all!
Saturday was supposed to be Jitsu training. Due to a combination of dislike of the particular technique that was going to be taught, and a number of minor injuries that add up to really not being up to it, I stayed home. As punishment for missing training, I decided to clean the house, and catch up on all the chores that I'd left for far too long.
Sunday, therefore, continued with the chore theme... I spent the day re-designing the club website. A task that previously took me about half an hour took most of the afternoon - worrying sign number two (sign one was Friday, when I spent far too long pushing on a "pull" door).
Sunday evening, I decided to relax with a book. Unfortunately, I couldn't find even one that I was sure wouldn't melt my already fragile mind, and in the end settled for Batman, as the most realistic of the stories available - yep, that's strike three!
In the course of a later conversation with my girlfriend, I directed her to have a look at the efforts of my day. Oddly though, the page wouldn't display correctly on her PC - the alignment was all wrong, and half the information was missing. Strike four was that I never thought to ask what colour the page was - yes, I had in fact given her the wrong address, and she was viewing the old version of the site.
Strike five is now. I think the cause of most of my brain problems is excessive caffeine... so I figure, another cup of tea should solve it all!
Friday 25 January 2008
Push or Pull?
Today is not a good day.
I just spent a good 30 seconds pushing on a meeting room door, convinced it must have been locked to stop me walking in... only to have my boss open it from the inside and let me in.
I should have been pulling.
I just spent a good 30 seconds pushing on a meeting room door, convinced it must have been locked to stop me walking in... only to have my boss open it from the inside and let me in.
I should have been pulling.
Thursday 24 January 2008
Shiny happy cars...
Despite my misgivings, the bodyshop did what I can only call a perfect job on my car.
The rear bumper (so cruelly cracked) was completely replaced - not fixed, replaced. The misalignment of the boot lock that made slamming the boot an exercise in futility was corrected (possibly, I suspect, with a large sledgehammer, but who am I to complain). The vicious, nasty scratches on the side were treated to make them less noticeable (not resprayed, but then, that wasn't part of the agreed job).
I hadn't even expected that much - my cynicism and general despair at humanity had left me expecting a duct-taped bumper and a boot that still wouldn't shut.
It's the little things that make the difference though. Not only had they done the job properly, they'd also cleaned my car (inside and out). That made all the difference when I first looked at it - it was filthy before.
The work on the scratches was a freebie too, and they gave me what I think is a good quote on doing the rest of the job.
They threw in a free can of de-icer (so good, in fact, that there's been no ice on my car for two days, and I haven't even used it yet).
The really impressive bit though... while I was off signing the paperwork, they noticed a dead tail-light, and replaced it - free of charge, without even asking. What a nice touch.
So, I'm going to break my rule of anonymity - if you have car bodywork that needs doing, take it to Perfect Finish.
Oh, and I got a free pen too!
The rear bumper (so cruelly cracked) was completely replaced - not fixed, replaced. The misalignment of the boot lock that made slamming the boot an exercise in futility was corrected (possibly, I suspect, with a large sledgehammer, but who am I to complain). The vicious, nasty scratches on the side were treated to make them less noticeable (not resprayed, but then, that wasn't part of the agreed job).
I hadn't even expected that much - my cynicism and general despair at humanity had left me expecting a duct-taped bumper and a boot that still wouldn't shut.
It's the little things that make the difference though. Not only had they done the job properly, they'd also cleaned my car (inside and out). That made all the difference when I first looked at it - it was filthy before.
The work on the scratches was a freebie too, and they gave me what I think is a good quote on doing the rest of the job.
They threw in a free can of de-icer (so good, in fact, that there's been no ice on my car for two days, and I haven't even used it yet).
The really impressive bit though... while I was off signing the paperwork, they noticed a dead tail-light, and replaced it - free of charge, without even asking. What a nice touch.
So, I'm going to break my rule of anonymity - if you have car bodywork that needs doing, take it to Perfect Finish.
Oh, and I got a free pen too!
Wednesday 23 January 2008
Still a Ford Ka
- Coffee Count: 0
- Tea Count: 5
The real problem though, is that it's been 3 years since I drove one of these. I remembered it being fast, responsive and easy to drive... so either my memory is faulty, my expectations have increased, or this specific car is a bit rubbish.
Probably a bit of each, to be honest.
When I got in the Ka to begin with, I thought, "Oh, this will be easy - I learnt to drive in one of these." Then I remembered all the little quirks of my new car, that I've just spent 3 years getting used to. Now, of course, it's the Ka that seems quirky.
Still, I figured out the very long movement on the clutch, the soft brakes, and the tiny steering wheel, and all seemed good. Except that I still wasn't comfortable in it. Oh, and I had no holder for my GPS device. So when it told me "Turn right", I went left - and spent 15 minutes going round in circles trying to join the rush hour traffic.
It's also got a lot less power than my current car, as I found out (the hard way) overtaking on a dual carriageway. I've always screamed at people who pull into the fast lane, then proceed at the same speed - now, I'm one of them.
The good news is that my car's supposedly fixed now. I just have to wait until 4pm to go and pick it up - when I'll also get a price for taking the scratches out, and check if they've really fixed the boot.
I doubt it.
Tuesday 22 January 2008
A Ford Ka
Before Christmas, I was driving from home to visit my girlfriend. It's a long drive, down some fairly narrow country roads, and involving a relatively large amount of overtaking - something I don't normally do, but consider vital when stuck behind a caravan, tractor, slow lorry or cyclist.
It shouldn't be that surprising to be involved in an accident - sorry, Road Traffic Collision (there are no accidents any more!) - after all, it's a long, tiring journey, and overtaking anything is much higher risk that just following it.
Oh the other hand, being rammed from behind (stop making your own jokes Jeff) before I've even left my hometown seems slightly frustrating!
It seems that the nincompoop behind me knew the phases of the traffic lights on this particular roundabout he saw no need to stop when I did - after all, this set of lights is never red when you've just come through a green from that direction. Except this time, of course.
To be honest, I was slightly surprised by the red light - he's right, it's rare to get a red there - but there was a good 10 seconds after I stopped before he hit me... he must have seen I'd stopped?
Fast-forward to today. After much chasing of company car insurance (his, not mine), I've eventually got my car booked in to be fixed. As it was his fault, and he admitted liability, I've nothing to pay, there's no impact on my no-claims discount, and I get a free courtesy car to drive while mine's in the shop.
Just one problem... it's a Ford Ka.
Let's be fair though - I've nothing against Ford Ka's. My old car was a Ford Ka, and it was almost as fun to drive as my current car. At least, that's how I remember it.
This Ford Ka though, is ugly. It's clunky, rattly, and someone seems to have stolen the acceleration. The brakes are soft. There's plastic sheeting on the passenger seat.
It's got a CD player though. That's good, right?
It shouldn't be that surprising to be involved in an accident - sorry, Road Traffic Collision (there are no accidents any more!) - after all, it's a long, tiring journey, and overtaking anything is much higher risk that just following it.
Oh the other hand, being rammed from behind (stop making your own jokes Jeff) before I've even left my hometown seems slightly frustrating!
It seems that the nincompoop behind me knew the phases of the traffic lights on this particular roundabout he saw no need to stop when I did - after all, this set of lights is never red when you've just come through a green from that direction. Except this time, of course.
To be honest, I was slightly surprised by the red light - he's right, it's rare to get a red there - but there was a good 10 seconds after I stopped before he hit me... he must have seen I'd stopped?
Fast-forward to today. After much chasing of company car insurance (his, not mine), I've eventually got my car booked in to be fixed. As it was his fault, and he admitted liability, I've nothing to pay, there's no impact on my no-claims discount, and I get a free courtesy car to drive while mine's in the shop.
Just one problem... it's a Ford Ka.
Let's be fair though - I've nothing against Ford Ka's. My old car was a Ford Ka, and it was almost as fun to drive as my current car. At least, that's how I remember it.
This Ford Ka though, is ugly. It's clunky, rattly, and someone seems to have stolen the acceleration. The brakes are soft. There's plastic sheeting on the passenger seat.
It's got a CD player though. That's good, right?
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